A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ways to attach enclosure boxes along the side of a substantially tall pole.
B. Problems in the Art
Relatively large poles erected to elevate things (e.g. lights, power lines, signs) many times also need enclosure boxes mounted along their side. Such enclosure boxes can house electrical components (e.g. ballasts, switching mechanisms, capacitors, and controllers). Sometimes it is desirable to mount more than one box along a single pole.
Just as there is a wide variety of pole diameters, shapes, and materials, likewise there is a large variety of sizes, shapes, and weights of enclosure boxes (and what they enclose) for poles.
While there are virtually an unlimited number of ways to hang or attach enclosure boxes to the side of a pole, practicalities exits which can drive solutions. In addition to the variables noted above, cost, reliability, durability, resistance to environmental conditions, and other factors can affect how such boxes are mounted to poles.
Additionally, many times there is a need for some flexibility. As indicated above, it is potentially desirable that a mounting method accommodate multiple configurations of poles or boxes. For example, outdoor sports lighting many times requires multiple light fixtures utilizing substantial electrical power to be elevated many tens of feet (e.g. 35–130 ft.). Sometimes hollow steel poles are utilized. Sometimes wood or even concrete poles are utilized. The diameters differ depending on elevation height of the fixtures and environmental conditions. Most such sports lighting is out of doors, requiring special consideration for durability over decades of time.
Correspondingly, electrical and other related equipment associated with operation of such lights many times need to be in relatively close proximity to the lights. Such components and equipment, for example ballasts, contactors, fuses, capacitors, switches, and other components well known in the art, must be housed and shielded from direct access for safety reasons, and enclosed from the environment and vandalism. Many different configurations of equipment are possible. Therefore, many different configurations of enclosures exist. For example, the owner of the present application, Musco Corporation, has over one hundred different configurations of enclosure boxes.
As can be appreciated, if each of a wide variety of different enclosure box configurations exists, with no substantially uniformity between them, inefficiencies in manufacturing can exist. Each separate design requires different fabrication steps and, therefore, this is antithetical to efficient mass production. Additionally, if the wide variety of enclosure box designs results in unavailability of a design during manufacturing or assembly of a lighting system, it can result in potentially costly delays.
Musco Corporation has attempted to develop enclosure box attachment apparatus and methods then address many of the issues in the art. For example, Musco Corporation, as well as others, have for years used straps to attach enclosure boxes along a pole. Usually some sort of bracket is welded or rigidly affixed to the back of an enclosure box and straps are threaded through the bracket and adjustable to cinch the box to the pole. This can be cumbersome, because attachment by straps involves substantial time and effort. If done after the pole is erected vertically, if is cumbersome to hold a loaded enclosure box in place while attaching the straps to the pole and the box to the straps. By further example, Musco Corporation U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,537, e.g. at FIG. 43, discloses an attachment systems for ballast boxes for poles that allows the ballast box to be hingably and releasably connected to a bracket along the pole and then swung into place, with alignment between an opening into the ballast box and an opening in the pole side. This requires a bracket along the pole to be welded or otherwise rigidly connected to the pole.
However, there is still room for improvement in the art. The prior attempts add the cost and expense of fixedly attaching brackets to the enclosure box or the pole. Also, there is room for improvement in an enclosure box mounting system which can use similar or the same components for a wide variety of sizes of enclosure boxes.
Still further, there is a need in the art for enclosure box attachment systems and method which allow for easier and more efficiently mounting of enclosure boxes to poles, as well as meeting needs for reliable, durable, long lasting attachment to the pole.